Locked Out Of My Car!?? Electronic Lock Fails

[leetman]

Wow! I am locked out of my car even though I have my keys! I have a 1990 525I and both driver and passenger doors seem to have lost their function of unlocking electronically. First it was the driver side door and then a year later (just today) the passenger side door went out. There seems to be no manual override with the key to unlock the door. Right? So am I stuck to breaking in? Do I need to repair it by taking apart the door and fixing something? Why would BMW create cars that cant be opened if the electric door part thing fails!?? OMG WHAT CAN I DO? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[sp0rky]

To manually unlock them - go to the passenger door and wiggle the handle up and down while turning the key slowly past the normal unlocking position.

Some people have a hard time doing it for the first time, but play with it - as yoiu turn the key further and further while wiggling the handle, you'll start to see the lock pin on the door being teased up.

good luck.

[Torque]

Yeah, turn the key past normal unlock position and then lift the handle as far as it goes. It should unlock, and when you release the key should return to its normal position.

Funny thing is... the thing that unlocks it broke on my dads car and we had to hook a new battery up to the alternator from underneath just to give the car enough electricity to unlock the door.

And on mine... dad got locked inside the car when the fusible link failed and we couldnt open it (was like 105 outside lol), so I pulled on it so hard that I snapped it out of place -- but it unlocked. That was a long day figuring out how the thing needed to go to still work inside the door.

[leetman]

Thanks for the help guys but something still seems wrong.... I have tried doing what you said but it doesnt seem to be working on my car. I called the BMW service guy and he told me the same thing "go to passenger side door, lift the handle up, then turn the key until it is horizontal, then hold the door handle up half way or 1/4 way up and turn the key even further."

The key wont turn further! I have tried as hard as I could and all I got was the plastic ripped off the back of my key! I feel if I was able to turn the key any harder the key itself would snap!?

Is this the right way to go about this? Are those directions what you guys meant?

I am soo pissed off right now.

[Dirty_Tool]

The service guy told u correctly, lifting the handle FIRST then working the key is the correct procedure. The problem is that over the years on these older cars the lock mechanisms tend to wear out and then the overide feature will not work as it was intended to. Your best bet is to lube the lock cylinder and keep trying. You didnt mention whether or not you thought the battery was dead? If you think that is the problem then another option would be breaking in to the engine compartment and using jumper cables or a booster pack to power up the vehicle, then unlocking the car with the key. This is a good example of why you should maintain your car and not let things like lock problems stay unaddressed for a year, because now that the other side has failed too you have yourself in a predicament. My suggestion is to somehow get into the vehicle and then have both locks repaired at a qualified facility right away without hesitating so that you dont find yourself in this situation again.

DT